An interview with
the editor/owner of "Novoye Vremya" Aleksey Suvorin.

Jews in Russia.

Why Editor of "Novoye
Veremya" as a Russian Patriot Opposes Them.

"The American
Hebrew" publishes to-day an interview with M. Suvorin, the
editor of the "Novoye Vreyma," of St. Petersburg, in course of
which he says:

"You ask me why I
am against the Jews," Suvorin began, when the conversation
turned upon the Jewish Question. "Personally, I have nothing
against them, but as a Russian patriot I am opposed to them."

"For what reasons?" I asked.

"First of all, the Jews are more cultured and cleverer than the
native population."

"Is that, in your
opinion, a crime?"

"No; but this reflects itself disadvantageously upon the native
population. If the Jews were given freedom in Russia, the entire
native population, because it is so uncultured, would find
itself in the hands of the Jews. All the wealth of Russia would
go over to the Jewish people."

"Until recently
you have been saying that the Jews have intoxicated the native
population and have robbed the peasants of all they possessed.
Now a Jew is not allowed to run a liquor store, for the dram
shopkeeper at present is a government functionary. Has
drunkenness decreased on this account? Has the famine subsided?
Should Russian patriotism consist only of seeking, instead of
the truth, a scapegoat? And, of course, the Jews are the most
desirable element as a scapegoat?"

"You are wrong in
thinking as you do....The reason I have pointed out to you is of
a very serious character....We Russians cannot look upon the
Jews as upon Russian citizens....The Jews are not
patriots....The Jews evade military service....The Jews despise
everything Russian; the Jews isolate themselves...."

"According
to you, then, the Jew's love for his country should be
expressed in kissing the knout with which he is being
beaten, in embracing the Cossack or policeman who has
violated his wife or his daughter?"

"Why should
the authorities like the Jews, who are their enemies? The
Jews are positively a troublesome element. They undermine
the foundation of the church and the government....The
Jews are to blame for the revolutionary movement in
Russia. Pleveh once showed me the statistics of political
criminals, and would you believe it, 72 per cent of them
were Jews....Which government in the world would protect a
nation which produces such an enormous percentage of
enemies? Of course, the revolution is advantageous to the
Jews. Seizing the reins of government in their hands, they
would rule Russia as they please....Therefore the native
Russian resists the Jews in the form of pogroms. The
struggle is beyond question a savage one, but then our
people are savages....And now, give freedom to such
savages...."

photo: Aleksey
Suvorin, before 1912. From Wikipedia.

"But why do the Jews
in Europe usually incline toward the conservative and government
parties? In Russia the Jews are with the Opposition parties because
they are oppressed by the government. Besides, as far as I know,
two-thirds of the statistical figures of revolutionists, as compiled
by Pleveh, consists of Zionists and Jewish nationalists, whom Pleveh
managed to classify as Russian revolutionists."

"Are not the Zionists
and Jewish nationalists a part of the revolutionary movement? Do you
consider those that have armed themselves with a stock of revolvers
and bombs as peaceful citizens?"

"Are you referring to
the Jewish self-defense?" I asked.

"Of course," he
answered, quickly.

"The very name of the
organization shows that it is not of a revolutionary character. The
people simply do not want to be slain like cattle, and they defend
themselves, since they cannot expect protection from the
government."

"However that may be,
a well regulated government cannot bear such organizations."

"And how about the
pogrom organizers--such as the 'Union of the Real Russian
People'--are such organizations tolerated by well regulated
governments?"

"No, our government
is fighting them."

"How? By demanding
officially that these pogrom-makers be deprived of their firearms,
and yet allowing these bandits to carry on their diabolical work?"

"Do you really
believe this stupid Jewish slander, according to which the Russian
government is responsible for the massacres?"

"I do! For I have
convinced myself that whenever it is advantageous for the government
that the massacres be stopped, it checks them immediately. The local
authorities would never encourage any massacres if they knew that
they would be held responsible for them. Recall the case of
Neidgardt. I had a conversation with senator Kuzminsky, who was
investigating the Odessa pogrom. He frankly declared that his
investigations convinced him that Neidgardt, the Prefect of Odessa,
had organized the pogrom in Odessa, and in reporting the matter
stated that Neidgardt should be tried. What were the results?
Durnovo declared to the Senate commission that if Neidgardt will be
tried, then all those carrying out honestly the orders from above
will resign....And Neidgardt, instead of going to prison, was
promoted to be a Senator; that is, he became one of Kuzminsky's
colleagues."....

"Nonsense! Kuzminsky
is foolish? Neidgardt acted as a real Russian. When they began to
abuse the Czar and the government, he stepped aside. He allowed the
people themselves to fight it out with the Jews."

"Why, then, did
Neidgardt send out Cossacks against the Jews, who merely defended
their houses?"

"Because the Jews
were firing at the Christians, and the latter did not refuse the aid
of the administration....This is so self-evident to every impartial
observer."

"If, as you say, the
Jews are such an undesirable element in Russia, would it not be more
honest to propose to them to leave Russia?"

"We do not hold them
back, but we will not drive them out of Russia, for, under certain
conditions, the Jews might become an extremely desirable element for
us."

"Under what
conditions, for instance?"

"Well, for instance,
if the Jews were to intermarry with the Christians. This would have
exerted a beneficial influence upon our Slavic race. Together with
the lazy blood of our race, the blood of the energetic and
enterprising people would flow in the veins of our prosperity. And
the Jews would become thoroughly assimilated with us."

"Are you jesting?"

"No; I am in
earnest....Picture to yourself an old estate owner. His only heir is
a son, who is a drunkard, who leads a fast life and who will surely
squander everything. The old man has a workman who is sober,
industrious and clever. The old man is greatly indebted to the
workman, who has devoted his life to his master. The question is, To
whom shall he leave his fortune? to the workman, with the
understanding that he support the son, or to the son? Reason
dictates that he should leave it to the workman, and yet the old man
decided that the son was, after all, a son to him, even though he
was a drunkard. And he left the estate to his son. The same is true
of us Russians. The Russians are, after all, our own people, while
the Jew is the workingman."